Posts Tagged ‘Ottawa Logo Design’

Re-branding your company’s logo should be one of the most carefully thought-out decisions you ever make for your business. Hastily adopting a new logo design can backfire for your image and may literally cost you customers. On the other hand, using re-branding properly can generate new revenue for you and open markets you’d struggled to break into with your old brand.

Are You Simplifying or Complicating your Brand?

Remember that golden rule with logo design – “Less is More”. You want iconic and memorable, while being easily replicable for whatever purpose you might need. It must look good on screen, print, and large scale. If you’ve been using a one-color design for two decades, don’t hustle your way into a multi-color design.

What are the most memorable logos you can think of? Nike comes quickly to mind and is always in the global top 10. The ‘ nike swoosh’ is easily modified by color and placement but remains constant in its simple form. Nike knows better than to risk that, and you should too.

On the other hand you can see that Apple has steadily progressed from a complicated illustration of Isaac Newton to a rainbow colored apple to today’s very simple mono-tone fruit. It’s bold, striking, and I would be very surprised if they ever changed it again.

Do You Have Something to Lose?

If you’re a brand new company that hasn’t managed to build a base then maybe a new logo is the right choice, especially if you didn’t love your first iteration. But that’s also where you went wrong — don’t launch until you’re 100 percent ready and happy with your brand. By the time you’re thinking about changing your logo, a good business should have something to lose.

People will recognize your logo, especially in an age of online marketing and social media. Completely changing your look can confuse customers and you risk loosing them.

Has Your Company Shifted Its Focus?

If your firm has changed its focus from one solution to another, then perhaps a logo that better describes what you do would be better. These are just a few reasons why you may change your logo.

Are You Passionate About Your New Design?

Your logo is the face of your firm. Get it right the first time and dont settle. Use a good Ottawa design firm that has a reputation for designing high end logo designs.

Nothing is more important to the success of a new firm than it’s branding. Without a great logo to catch the attention of potential customers, you run the risk of continuing to be invisible on the local Ottawa and international market. It doesn’t take a lot of money to secure a great logo and branding for your new venture, just a bit of inspiration, creativity, and simplicity. Consider the following ideas when selecting a new logo to represent your business:

The Simplicity of Your Message

Coming up with a new logo and brand for your business might seem like a daunting task, especially the first time that you design a concept representation of your firm. This can lead people down the wrong road, trying to communicate too many flashy and intensive ideas in too small of a visual spot. Instead approach the design of your logo from a place of simplicity . You can always make a logo more complex in the future, but during the first few months and years of a business endeavor, a simple design should be clear enough for the viewer to read and understand.

Logo Design Symbolism and Memorability

Though having a clean logo design is critical for a business’ success, it’s also important to have something memorable that potential customers can latch onto and remember. In certain cases, you may wish to incorporate some kind of symbolism within the text or visual design of your company’s logo. Before setting down to draft a logo design, take a look at the established symbolism within the logos in your company’s industry, especially your closest competitors. Memorability is the goal: think about the most common logos you’ve seen companies like Nike or Starbucks – though the style of their logo may have changed slightly over the years, they remain as internationally-recognized symbols. That being said, don’t have the same color text or similar look as your biggest rival company, because people need to be able to differentiate between your firm and the others in the industry.

Setting a Professional Tone with Design

If you want to send a clear, strong, and professional image to your audience consider reflecting this in the overall look of your logo. A logo is the face of your company, so it should be attractive and inviting. During the initial period when you establish your firm, you will want to focus on a simple logo design such as the name of your company in a legible font and sophisticated color. You could draw inspiration by searching the Pantone website for particular shades that you feel capture the underlaying goal of your company’s mission. Ask a few of your trusted customers to look at the markups of your logo and discuss if the message that they get is clear and professional.

Designing a more complicated logo can be very difficult on your own, especially when your expertise is in running a business and not in the creative arts. This is where a good Ottawa logo design firm can help you.

One design-related trend among smaller companies involves the complexity they often seek in their logos. Many corporate decision-makers prefer intricate logo designs that seem as if they required significant time to create. The level of detail in their ideas can be staggering.

A lot of professional designers take an alternate route. They create logos that are simple and memorable, and can successfully communicate the company’s brand story. However, when these early drafts are presented to clients, they are often rebuffed in favor of something more complex. It’s worth taking a moment to consider the advantages of using a simple logo. This article will describe these advantages, as well as some of the downsides. By its end, you’ll understand why the logos of many of the world’s top brands are simplistic in their design.

Communicating Strength

A lot of company owners approach their logo designs without considering the messages they convey to their respective audiences. Instead, they focus on features that appear attractive, trendy, or “cool.” This is the reason many contemporary designs contain swooshes, pointy men, and even tribal symbols that have little to do with the companies behind the logos. The problem here is that these designs quickly become outdated.

By contrast, consider the logos of the world’s largest brands. They are simple, and project a sense of strength and constancy. Ford Motor Company’s logo offers a good example: white lettering of the company’s name is superimposed upon a blue, oval-shaped emblem. The design has been in effect since 1928.

A sense of permanence is one of the advantages to using a simple design. It is the reason such logos are used by financial institutions, such as Chase Bank, Bank Of America, and Wells Fargo.

Consistent Output Across Various Media

Another reason to use a straightforward design is because they are often more adaptive to a range of different media. Whether this is important for your logo depends on how you intend to use it. For example, a complicated design may be fine if you only intend to display it on your website. But if you also plan to use it on your letterhead, business cards, custom bumper stickers, product packaging, and sales brochures, it may appear muddied.

Here, again, it is instructive to look at the designs of the largest brands since most of them use their logos on various media. For instance, the logos of Hewlett-Packard, FedEx, and Microsoft are well-suited for displaying online, and printing on a range of surfaces.

Promoting Immediate Recognition

Simple designs are more memorable. When we observe an uncomplicated logo, it is easier to recall the company, its products, and the ideas for which it stands. This quick recognition also brings to mind their brand story, which strengthens the image we have about the company in our minds.

For instance, consider Apple’s apple and Nike’s swoosh. Text is unnecessary in both designs. From observing their respective symbols, we immediately recognize both companies, and can imagine their products. Think of UPS’s identifiable brown and yellow shield, or IBM’s rectangular, striped letters. Both are immediately recognizable.

The Drawbacks To A Simple Design

So, is a simple logo always appropriate? Or, are there times when a complex design offers an advantage? The answer is that complexity does pose benefits.

For example, it is often difficult to trademark simple logos. If you can do so successfully, you may still find it difficult to protect the trademark. Also, the simpler a design is, the harder it is to make the design appear distinctive from others. There are fewer features with which to work. Even though this challenge can be solved by a professional designer, it is worth considering.

Neither downside presents a compelling argument against simplicity. Rather, both are limitations that are worth taking into account. You’ll find in most cases, a simple logo design will prove more effective than one that is needlessly complex.